Teaching, Learning and the Curriculum

How we Support SEND

Woodham Burn Community Primary prides itself in being very inclusive and will endeavour to support every child regardless of their level of need. All pupils follow the National Curriculum at a level and a pace that is appropriate to their abilities. At times and when it is felt appropriate, modifications to the curriculum may be implemented.

To successfully match pupil ability to the curriculum there are some actions we may take to achieve this:

Ensure that all pupils have access to the school curriculum and all school activities.
Help all pupils achieve to the best of their abilities, despite any difficulty or disability they may have.
Ensure that teaching staff are aware of and sensitive to the needs of all pupils, teaching pupils in a way that is more appropriate to their needs.
Pupils to gain in confidence and improve their self-esteem.
To work in partnership with parents/ carers, pupils and relevant external agencies in order to provide for children’s special educational needs and disabilities.
To identify at the earliest opportunity, all children that need special consideration to support their needs (whether these are educational, social, physical or emotional)
To make suitable provision for children with SEND to fully develop their abilities, interests and aptitudes and gain maximum access to the curriculum.
Ensure that all children with SEND are fully included in all activities of the school in order to promote the highest levels of achievement.
To promote self worth and enthusiasm by encouraging independence at all age and ability levels.
To give every child the entitlement to a sense of achievement.
To regularly review the policy and practice in order to achieve best practice.

Types of SEND

At Woodham Burn Community Primary, we have experience of supporting children and young people with a wide range of need including:

Communicating and interacting – Children and young people have speech, language and communication difficulties which make it difficult for them to make sense of language or to understand how to communicate effectively and appropriately with others.

Cognition and learning – Children and young people learn at a slower pace than others their age, have difficulty in understanding parts of the curriculum, have difficulties with organisation and memory skills, or have a specific difficulty affecting one particular part of their learning performance such as in literacy or numeracy.

Social, emotional and mental health difficulties – Children and young people have difficulty in managing their relationships with other people, are withdrawn, or they behave in ways that may hinder their and other children’s learning or have an impact on their health and wellbeing.

Sensory and/or physical needs – Children and young people with visual and/or hearing impairments, or a physical need that means they must have additional ongoing support and equipment.

Some children and young people may have SEN that covers more than one of these areas.

The school provides data on the levels and types of need to the Local Authority. This is collected through the school census.

Teaching, learning and the curriculum

At Woodham Burn Community Primary, we believe that inclusive education means providing all pupils with appropriate education and support alongside their peers. The Curriculum is all the planned activities that the school organises in order to promote learning, personal growth and development.

It includes not only the formal requirements of the National Curriculum, but also the range of additional opportunities that the school organises in order to enrich the experiences of our children. Our curriculum also includes the social aspects that are essential for life-long learning.

For further information you can view the Teaching & Learning Policy in the School Policies section of our website.

How we identify and assess children with special educational needs

Most children and young people will have their special educational needs met in mainstream schools through good classroom practice. This is called Quality First Teaching.

At Woodham Burn Primary, we follow a graduated support approach which is called “Assess, Plan, Do, Review”.

This means that we will:

Assess a child’s special educational needs
Plan the provision to meet your child’s aspirations and agreed outcomes
Do put the provision in place to meet those outcomes
Review the support and progress

As part of this approach, we will produce a SEN Support Plan that describes the provision that we will make to meet a child’s special educational needs and agreed outcomes. Parents and carers will be fully involved in this process.

A small percentage of children and young people with significant learning difficulties might need an assessment that could lead to an Education, Health and Care Plan.

Full details can be found on the Local Offer website.

You can find details of how we adapt the curriculum and make it more accessible for pupils with SEN below:

Staffing and any Specialist Qualifications/Expertise

Mrs F Anderson – SENCO

If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.